Serving the High Plains

Articles from the March 11, 2020 edition


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 23 of 23

  • 'Red flag' resolution approved

    Ron Warnick|Mar 11, 2020

    During a Quay County Commission meeting so crowded with spectators it was moved from its usual chambers to a district courtroom upstairs, commissioners on Monday unanimously approved the sheriff's request for a resolution that declares the county's opposition to the New Mexico's newly enacted red-flag gun law. Sheriff Russell Shafer requested the resolution, which declared the county's opposition to the state's Extreme Risk Protection Order Act that takes effect in mid-May. The law allows...

  • Governor announces closing of all public schools for 3 weeks

    staff report|Mar 11, 2020

    All New Mexico public schools, including those in Quay County, will be closed for three weeks beginning Monday because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release Thursday evening from the governor's office. That includes public schools in Tucumcari, Logan, San Jon, House and Grady, the latter which is in Curry County but its district extends into southern Quay County. It also means all sports events would be canceled or rescheduled during that time period, which would end Friday, April 3, said Tucumcari athletic director Wayne...

  • Two Tucumcari city commissioners file for county seat

    Ron Warnick|Mar 11, 2020

    Two sitting Tucumcari city commissioners will face each other in the Republican primary for Quay County Commissioner District 2 on June 2. District 5 city commissioner Todd Duplantis and District 4 city commissioner Chris Arias each filed for the county's District 2 during the final hour of filing for primary elections Tuesday at the Quay County Clerk's Office. They also will face a third primary challenger for the seat, Jerri Rush of Forrest. Current Quay County District 2 commissioner Mike Cherry is term-limited after this year, as is...

  • State basketball tournament to go on without fans

    Staff report|Mar 11, 2020

    Amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus, the New Mexico State Basketball Tournaments will proceed without the general public being allowed to attend. The New Mexico Activities Association announced on its Twitter page at 10:06 p.m. Wednesday: “Per the guidance of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham & recommendations from the New Mexico Department of Health, the remainder of the 2020 State Basketball Tournament will go on as scheduled, however without fans.” Every team will be allowed 20 members, including players, coaches and adm...

  • Commission chair asks for road resolution

    Ron Warnick|Mar 11, 2020

    The Quay County Commission's chairman on Monday asked road superintendent Larry Moore to draft a resolution requesting safety improvements at U.S. 54 and Airport Road. Problems at U.S. 54 and Quay Road Ai (aka Airport Road) have been discussed at previous commission meetings. Truckers and other travelers, relying on online navigation systems, often use the road as a shortcut to Interstate 40. Commissioner Sue Dowell said any sort of left turn from U.S. 54 onto that road often proves hazardous...

  • Crowd expected for iron pour

    Ron Warnick|Mar 11, 2020

    The loss of higher-education foundry programs is the gain of Mesalands Community College's annual Iron Pour, now in its 22nd year this week. Joel Kiser, a longtime member of the college's arts faculty, said many colleges and universities have shuttered their foundries because of their cost, a lack of space and its intensive maintenance. As a result, Mesalands' Iron Pour continues to attract instructors and students from across a wide area, in addition to artists who lack facilities in their area...

  • State takes steps for coronavirus

    Staff report|Mar 11, 2020

    Though coronavirus hasn’t been reported in New Mexico yet, state health officials and one of the region’s key health providers have taken steps to prepare for it or prevent it. The New Mexico Department of Health stated in a news release last week it now can test for COVID-19, or coronavirus, that has sickened more than 100,000 people across the globe and severely disrupted shipping and production from China. The test kits, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, allow the Department of Health to test several hundred pat...

  • Pages past - March 11

    Mar 11, 2020

    On this date ... 1970: A dog-bite case was dismissed in Tucumcari municipal court after the judge ruled the black German shepherd showed no evidence of prior viciousness but ordered the dog’s owners to kept the animal outside on a leash or build a taller fence to contain it. A Tucumcari woman was bit on the arm while walking past the residence on East High Street. • A late winter storm dumped up to 10 inches of snow overnight in the state’s northern mountains, with more expected during the day. It was hoped the snowfall would provide farme...

  • Menus - March 11

    Mar 11, 2020

    Tucumcari schools Wednesday — Breakfast: Sausage and cheese breakfast bagel, assorted cereal, cinnamon graham cracker, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Salisbury steak, turkey and cheese hoagie, mashed potatoes, honey wheat roll, salad mix, fresh tomatoes, baby carrots, ranch dressing, fruit, milk. Thursday — Breakfast: Baked peach pear oatmeal, Trix cereal bar, fruit, juice, milk; Lunch: Pepperoni pizza, salad mix, fresh tomatoes, cucumber, cauliflower, ranch dressing, fruit, milk. Monday — Breakfast: Blueberry muffin, assorted cereal, string chees...

  • Calendar - March 11

    Mar 11, 2020

    • Today through Saturday — 22nd Iron Pour. Mesalands Community College will host its 22nd annual Iron Pour workshop. Meet sculpture artists and make your own creation from molten metal. The actual iron pour will take place Friday. For more information, call (575) 461-4413, Ext. 138. Building D, 911 S. 10th St., Tucumcari. • Friday — Bull Production Workshop. This program, which includes a dinner sponsored by the New Mexico Cattlegrowers Foundation, will have presentations about the Raising Ranchers program, using expected progeny differences, b...

  • Changes need to be made to primary system

    Mar 11, 2020

    Being a voter in New Mexico during the presidential primary election is a little like being a Cleveland Browns fan during the Super Bowl. It’s interesting to watch, but it would be a lot more fun if we could participate. By the time we vote in June, the process will have been four months old, and voters in 46 other states will have already weighed in. The election will probably be over and we’ll just be a rubber stamp for the candidate who voters in other states have decided should be the nominee. There is a possibility this year that a fra...

  • Libel standard should stay in place

    Steve Hansen|Mar 11, 2020

    In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a gift to the idea of freedom of expression with its ruling in the New York Times v. Sullivan case. It is important to point out that the case could just have easily involved the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, the National Review or the Atlantic — any outlet that either reports news objectively or openly advances an opinion. Times v. Sullivan established that proof of libel against a public figure must demonstrate actual malice in the form of falsity and “reckless disregard” for truth...

  • Establishment still holds power

    Michael Reagan|Mar 11, 2020

    Everyone talks about the power of the Republican and Democrat party establishments. It’s real — just ask Bernie. He quickly found out how powerful the Democrat establishment is last week when Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar both called it quits just in time to help Joe Biden rack up some impressive primary wins on Super Tuesday. Bernie Sanders is a socialist, an outsider. Outsiders always have a tough time. But good, likable candidates like my father in 1980 can defeat the party establishment. Bernie isn’t exactly likable, but he was looki...

  • Tax board approves forming of local tourism committee

    Ron Warnick|Mar 11, 2020

    The Tucumcari Lodgers Tax Board on Wednesday unanimously approved its chairman’s plan to form a local tourism committee in place of an Albuquerque marketing firm, but not before an argument between him and outgoing city manager Britt Lusk prompted Lusk to walk out of the meeting. All board members and several audience members who spoke up voiced support for Chairman Larry Smith’s four-page plan, which will be presented to the Tucumcari City Commission during its regular meeting Thursday for final approval. The board approved the document wit...

  • Tucumcari girls earn victory on road

    Staff report|Mar 11, 2020

    The Tucumcari girls basketball team nabbed an impressive 58-39 victory on the road Friday night at Laguna Acoma in the first round of the Class 3A girls basketball tournament. The ninth-seeded Lady Rattlers (19-10) face top-seed Navajo Prep (25-2) at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. A final score of that game wasn’t available before press start. Jasmine Jones led the Lady Rattlers with 23 points. Ashley Shipley added 13 points and Reece Goldston 12. Tucumcari committed only nine turnovers during the game and made n...

  • Logan boys out of tourney

    Staff report|Mar 11, 2020

    A depleted Logan boys basketball team’s run in the Class 1A state tournament came to an early end with a 61-41 opening-round loss Saturday at Elida. The Longhorns were without junior guard Dante Sanchez, who averaged a team-leading 22 points per contest, because he was ejected during a previous game and was prohibited from playing in the subsequent matchup. The cold-shooting Longhorns fell behind 11-4 in the first quarter, and the Tigers closed it in the fourth quarter with a 19-7 run. “We had a lot of great looks, but the ball just did...

  • Logan girls take down Dora

    Ron Warnick|Mar 11, 2020

    LOGAN - The top-seeded Logan girls basketball team took care of business quickly during a 63-20 victory in the first round Friday of the Class 1A state tournament against 16th-seeded and proverbial sacrificial lamb Dora. The Lady Longhorns (23-4) took a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter, led by 20 midway through the second and prompted the start of the running-clock "mercy rule" when their advantage reached 35 points in the third. Karli Webb and Kyndall Ragland led Logan's...

  • Grady/San Jon takes loss to Quemado

    Ron Warnick|Mar 11, 2020

    GRADY - The Grady/San Jon boys basketball team lamented a top scorer's foul trouble, allowing nine 3-point shots and a brief but critical scoring drought in the third quarter during a 55-51 season-ending loss Saturday to Quemado in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament. Most of all, the Bronchos lamented the absence of senior power forward Chisum Rush. Rush, who averaged a team-leading 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game this season, suffered what initially was thought to have...

  • Baseball team drops season opener

    Staff report|Mar 11, 2020

    The Tucumcari baseball team dropped its season-opening doubleheader Saturday at West Las Vegas by scores of 7-0 and 18-3. Rattlers starting pitcher Ryan Birch took the loss in the first game, allowing three earned runs in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked three. The Dons (3-1) scored four unearned runs during the game on three Tucumcari errors. West Las Vegas seized control with a five-run third inning. In the second game, the Dons broke open a 2-2 tie with six runs in the second inning and eight in the third. Tucumcari committed...

  • Three House students qualify for state FFA competition

    Staff report|Mar 11, 2020

    Three students from the House High School chapter of the FFA qualified for the state competition, including one who single-handedly competed against four-person teams, during judging competition Feb. 29 in Clovis. Ross Lee, Allison Powell and Clementine Bondurant of House qualified for state in their respective fields. Lee judged horses for the first time and scored 257 points to qualify for state competition. He competed against mostly four-man teams, according to a news release from the school. Powell qualified for state in both floriculture...

  • Jail log - March 11

    Mar 11, 2020

    These individuals were booked into the Quay County Detention Center from March 2 to March 6: • Tyje Ji-Tu Garrett, 39, Tucumcari, charge not listed. • Maury Mauzy, 64, Albuquerque, contempt of court. • Samuel Douglas Nelson, 20, Sedgwick, Kansas, felony contempt of court. • Rhonda Everett, 41, Tucumcari, resisting, evading or obstructing an officer during an arrest. • Fatima Rivas, 42, Tucumcari, conspiracy to commit criminal damage to the property of a household member (over $1,000). • Jesus Robles, 40, felony possession of a controlled substa...

  • Jesus has eyes like flame of fire

    Gordan Runyan|Mar 11, 2020

    In his letter to the pastor and people in the church at Thyatira, Jesus describes himself as, “the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire.” (Revelation 2:18) It’s a strange way to start a letter. You need to know who’s writing to you, Thyatira. He’s the one with blazing eyes. However odd that sounds, it was what they needed to hear. Sometimes the Lord’s people conveniently forget things. We’re pretty good at remembering the comforting, kind things he has done. We sing songs about that st...

  • Police blotter - March 11

    Mar 11, 2020

    These calls were made to the Tucumcari-Quay Regional Emergency Communications Center from March 2 to March 8: Monday • 2:09 a.m.: Noise complaint in 500 block of East High Street, Tucumcari. • 1:02 p.m.: Property damage in 1300 block of South Adams Street, Tucumcari. • 1:36 p.m.: Juvenile problem at First Street and McGee Avenue, Tucumcari. • 2:18 p.m.: Intoxicated person in 600 block of South First Street, Tucumcari. • 3:55 p.m.: Breaking and entering in 300 block of Sparrow Street, Logan. • 4:56 p.m.: Burglary from motor vehicle in 1400 blo...